A look at five things to know from Wednesday, Aug. 4 at the Tokyo Olympics

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This article was published 04/08/2021 (1499 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TOKYO – From the golden moment of redemption and glory for Canada’s fastest man to a still unresolved scheduling conflict with athlete safety at risk, here are five things to know from Wednesday at Tokyo Olympics.

DE GRASSE IS GREENER

Olympic champion. It’s the title Andre De Grasse has been seeking his entire career. It became a reality Wednesday when the Canadian raced to a gold medal in the men’s 200 metres at the Tokyo Olympics. De Grasse roared to the finish line in a Canadian-record time of 19.62 seconds. The 26-year-old from Markham, Ont. now has five Olympic medals, tying Phil Edwards for the most by a Canadian track and field athlete. The gold was the only one missing from De Grasse’s collection. He won bronze in the 100 metres in Tokyo, and won silver and two bronze at Rio 2016. The Canadian’s victory came 25 years — plus a week — after Donovan Bailey raced to 100-metre gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

A WARN-ING TO ALL COMPETITORS

It seems not even a mediocre (by his standards) result in the high jump can slow down Canada’s Damian Warner. The 31-year-old from London, Ont., remained in the lead in the Olympic decathlon after five of 10 events. Pierce LePage of Whitby, Ont., was third. Warner began the day by running 10.12 seconds in the 100 metres to tie his decathlon world record. The No. 1-ranked decathlete in the world this year then crushed the field in the long jump, soaring 8.24 metres, the longest in Olympic decathlon history. He was 11th in the shot put, then cleared 2.02 metres in the high jump to tie for eighth. He ended the day with a third-place finish in his men’s 400 metres heat.

REACH FOR THE TOP

Alannah Yip of North Vancouver, B.C., didn’t move on to the final if the first ever Olympic sport climbing competition. But she did start the competition strong with a pair of personal bests in the speed portion of the event. The speed discipline sees safety harness-clad competitors race up a 15-foot wall peppered with so-called “holds” before touching a button at the top. “What a great analogy for life climbing is — you fall down, you get right back up and try again,” she said.

SOCCER SCHEDULE SHOWDOWN

Canada and Sweden are joining forces ahead of their clash on the pitch. Team officials from both countries want organizers to push back the late-morning kickoff time of Friday’s women’s soccer final because of concerns related to the intense heat in Japan. The final at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time Friday (10 p.m. eastern time on Thursday). The local forecast called for mostly sunny conditions and a high of 34 C, with the humidity expected to make it feel more like the low 40s. Moving the kickoff to the late afternoon would allow the athletes to play in the shade, since the sun sets in the early evening this time of year in Tokyo. “The COC supports Canada Soccer’s request to change the time of the women’s soccer final,” Canadian Olympic Committee chief sport officer Eric Myles said Wednesday in a statement. “It is in the best interest of the athletes.”

WARRIORS ON THE WATER

People love a good dip in the pool, but how many would be enticed by the prospect of swimming — non-stop — for two straight hours? That’s the type of elite stamina it took to win gold in the marathon swimming event. Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha overcame the heat, humidity and marine life at Tokyo Bay to finish the 10-kilometre course first in a time of one hour 59 minutes 30.8 seconds. That was just nine-tenths ahead of defending champion Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands. Canada’s Kate Sanderson finished 18th in a time of 2:04:59.1.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2021.